YOUR FRIEND, THE BAT!

‘Fruit Eating Bat’ photo is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International.
Bats have been nicknamed ‘The heroes of the night!’  They offer us nighttime pest control and take the nightshift as pollinators!  Every night, bats eat their body weight in insects!  That’s thousands of bugs which help protect our forests and farmer’s crops from pests.  I’ll bet you didn’t know that they are also pollinators!  Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination.  According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, ‘Without bats, say goodbye to bananas, avocados and mangoes!’ NOOOOOOOOO! 

The image above of the fruit eating bat is meant to assuage your negative feelings about bats!  Ha, Ha.  Now that’s a joke!!!                  

Bats range in size from the ‘Bumblebee Bat weighing less than a penny to the Flying Fox Bat with a wingspan of over 6 feet!  There are more than 1400 species of bats worldwide. They are fast little buggers with some species able to fly over 100 mile per hour!  They are our ‘friends’ because according to Farm Progress, ‘natural pest-control provided by insect -eating bats in the United States likely save the U.S. agricultural industry 3.7 to 53 billion dollars a year!  

AND, by eating insects, especially billions of mosquitoes, they save millions of people from itchy arms and diseases like Encephalitis, Malaria and West Nile. 

P.S., ‘Blind as a Bat’ is a falsehood!  Bats are not blind!  However, they do have an extraordinary ability to ‘see’ in the dark.  It is called Echolocation, they send out sound waves from their mouths or nose which bounce off, ‘echo’ off whatever is in their path.  Their ears pick up the sound and build a picture of what’s around them.  Click on the link below if you want to hear what their echolocation sounds like!  

If God can give this extraordinary gift of ‘echolocation’ to bats which guides them through life and helps them not to stumble, how much more will He give you what you need to guide you through life and cause you not to stumble.  Read the following scriptures and rejoice in what God has promised you through His word!!!

‘The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.’  Isaiah 58:11.

‘Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.’  Psalm 119:105.

‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.’  
Proverbs 16:9.

‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.’  Psalm 32:8.

‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’ Proverbs 3:5-6.

‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”  Isaiah 30:21.

‘But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears (from the Father), and he will tell you what is yet to come.’  John 16:13.

‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’  John 10:27.

‘The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.’  Psalm 37:23-24.

‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’   Jeremiah 29:11.

These are only a few of the scriptural promises regarding Gods guidance system for us.  

WHY DO WE EVER STUMBLE AND FALL?

Click on the following link, ‘Incredible Bats’, to listen to bat echolocation: